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7
ABIGOR
“Oof,” I said, as I dragged what seemed like the four thousandth villager into Julian’s ever-expanding spiral of bodies. “He couldn’t have life-force-zapped a hundred and fifty rabbits instead.”
“Shh,” Lilin hissed, glancing around. “He’ll hear you.”
“So?” I dropped the man’s feet a little less carefully than I probably should have; his boots hit the ground with a thump.
“Julian’s—” Lilin paused. “Fragile.”
“So am I, after the past three hours.” I stretched my arms. “I think that’s the last of them.”
“I feel fine,” Lilin said, from where she was perched on a low fence.
“Of course you do,” I said crossly, coming over to lean heavily beside her. “Why do angels need to levitate anything anyway?”
Lilin made a face. “As I’ve told you three times already, it’s not levitation.”
“Rearranging their ethereal essence makes even less sense,” I said, scrunching up my nose in a mimicry of her expression.
“Is this a competition?” she said, her eyes narrowing. “May I remind you, I have to walk everywhere. With my feet, not through shadows.”
“Where’s Julian, anyway, speaking of walking?” I said, looking around. “I haven’t seen him in almost an hour.”
A strange expression flashed over Lilin’s face, which I was beginning to recognize as the look she got when she was Sensing. “That way,” she said, pointing. “The big house with the garden.” She climbed off the fence and started up the lane. “Are you coming,” she added, “or would you like me to levitate you?”
“Ha ha,” I said sourly, but pushed off the fence and followed her up the street.
Julian was, indeed, in the front garden of the largest house on the street. He still clutched his book with one hand; in the other, he had a fistful of plants.
“Lilin. Abigor,” he said, looking up at us with dark-circled eyes. “I’m nearly finished.”
Lilin cast me a quick, apprehensive glance. To Julian, she said, “Is this wise? You…don’t look well.”
“Merely tired,” Julian said gruffly, but I caught the way the hand holding the herbs trembled.
“The sun is rising,” Lilin said, glancing toward the horizon. “Might it not be better to wait—to rest? You can start again at twilight…if you truly think this is the right thing to do.”
But Julian was already shaking his head. “Dawn,” he said. “It’s a powerful time. Light. Hope.” He paused, his throat working. “Rebirth.”
Lilin tried again. “But another night—”
“No!” Julian’s voice was suddenly a roar. He stood up straight, for a moment looking like a bear rearing to attack. “No,” he said again, quieter this time. He bent to pluck another stem of grass from the garden. “It must be today.”
Lilin turned to me, a slightly desperate expression on her face. “Abigor,” she said, her tone pleading.
I held up my hands, stepping toward Julian. “As I said before,” I told her, reaching to relieve Julian of some of his armful of flora, “it’s worth a try.”
“These are people,” Lilin said sharply. “Not things with which to experiment.”
Although I couldn’t Sense, I felt the impact of Lilin’s words. Julian flinched, almost dropping the book. His jaw tightened, and his eyes grew bright just before he turned away.
“Now,” he said stiffly, as he brushed past me and headed for the lane. “I cannot leave them this way. It must be now.”
I glared at Lilin, who was gazing after Julian with near anguish. “Happy?” I snapped. “As though the man hasn’t been through enough today.”
“He’ll be through more if this spell fails,” Lilin said, the pain vanishing from her face. Her eyes went sharp and deadly. “Supporting this is a mistake.”
